NEW YORK — Sitting shirtless in front of his locker in the visitors’ clubhouse at Yankee Stadium, his right ring finger wrapped from PIP joint to fingertip in heavy white tape, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. scrolled stone-faced through his phone.
He’d just returned on a golf cart from the medical room at the opposite end of ballpark, where a doctor used two stitches to close the gash opened on Guerrero’s finger hours earlier by Aaron Hicks’ left cleat. On the televisions above him, YES Network’s post-game show began airing highlights of the Toronto Blue Jays‘ 6-4 triumph over the New York Yankees on Wednesday, a gripping, back-and-forth contest you might have heard Guerrero had some impact on. A momentous performance from a singular, innate talent whose burgeoning career is somehow still just getting started. Maybe his finest yet.
“Just add that one to my list,” Guerrero said. “Because it’s one of them.”
Whack. Guerrero’s first homer of the night, off the second pitch he’d seen from Yankees starter Gerrit Cole — a hung slider — was parked over the wall in dead centre at 109 mph. Guerrero looked up from his phone. Still stoic, but now paying attention.
Crunch. Guerrero’s finger was trampled by Hicks, as the first baseman used his bare hand for balance while picking a ball in the dirt. Quick cut to Guerrero, his pant pocket smeared red, walking calmly back to the Blue Jays dugout in search of assistance, blood rapidly leaking from an open wound.
“He was bleeding a lot,” said Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo. “It was like I was in that Rocky movie: ‘Cut me, Mick! Cut me!’”
Through all the commotion, as Blue Jays trainers Jose Ministral and Voon Chong worked furiously to stop the blood flow and bandage the area, Guerrero kept repeating the same thing over and over. I’m not coming out of this game, Charlie. I’m not coming out of this game.
“I don’t want you to come out of the game!” Montoyo exclaimed afterwards while recalling the moment and laughing. “You’ve got to give him a lot of credit. So many people would have come out, you know?
“I saw a lot of blood. But I was waiting to let the trainers work, see what they can do, if they can stop the bleeding. And they did. So, they do deserve a lot of credit. We never really talk about trainers. But besides Vladdy, the trainers were the MVP’s today.”
Crack. A second shot off Cole aired on that clubhouse TV, this one an absurd, can’t-teach-that piece of hitting in which Guerrero pulled his hands in to get a 98-mph fastball running a good six inches off the plate beneath his belt, putting a dent in the back wall of the left field bullpen.
Guerrero will tell you his plan against Cole Wednesday was to get a good pitch to hit. The first one he homered on was. But that second one wasn’t. Not even in the slightest. Normal hitters can’t get to that pitch, let alone take it for that ride. Even really good hitters can’t. Run it back a thousand times and Cole probably doesn’t throw it any differently. It’s just a special ability you either have or you don’t. And Guerrero might be the only guy in the game who has it.
“I was just trying to react,” Guerrero said. “I mean, when you’re up there, you’re not really paying attention to a location, especially at that velo. All I did was just see the pitch and react.”
Montoyo used to hit a bit himself. Not like Vladdy. No one hits like Vladdy. But he did have nearly 900 knocks over his minor-league career. He figures he might’ve decapitated a fan trying to get his bat on that thing.
“Anybody that knows baseball and saw what he did tonight knows that’s just impressive. It was an inside fastball at 98 from one of the best pitchers in baseball,” Montoyo said. “And he got to it. Like, that’s not easy to do. I would’ve killed somebody if I hit it that way. If I even got to it.”
That pitch from Cole took less than four-tenths of a second to get to the plate from his hand, arriving 2.78 feet off the ground. It was not a strike. Since 2010, right-handed MLB hitters have collectively seen 2,307 fastballs at 98-mph or harder that ended up middle-in and off the plate, like the one Cole threw Guerrero. Not a single one had been hit for a home run until Wednesday. Not a single one.
“That’s the type of player he is. Man, he can take over a game,” said Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge. “Especially with Cole’s fastball — that’s tough. Someone like Vlad, if he’s looking for a pitch, he usually doesn’t miss. He was probably sitting on something in there and got what he was looking for. But against a guy who can run it up to 99, 100 miles per hour? That’s tough to square up even if you’re sitting on it.”
Slice. Still watching the post-game highlights expressionless from his locker, Guerrero saw himself earning a third hit off Cole in the sixth — a double — after falling behind, 0-2, cutting down his swing, and flicking another 98-mph heater into the opposite field corner. Even Cole — one of the best pitchers on the planet, perhaps you’ve heard — had to tip his cap after that one. Guerrero didn’t see the gesture at the time. Someone showed it to him on their phone after the game. He thought it was pretty neat. Cole was less pleased.
“I mean, did you see the night?” Cole said, exasperated. “If you had a cap, you’d tip it, too. And it got better after that. My goodness.”
Pop. It did get better after that. A third homer off Guerrero’s barrel, this time in the eighth inning off Jonathan Loaisiga, an utterly nasty right-handed reliever who gave up only three homers over 70.2 innings in 2021. Off a 95-mph sinker middle-in, too — Loaisiga’s bread and butter pitch to right-handed hitters.
Some facts. Loaisiga’s thrown 363 sinkers on the inner-half of the plate or beyond to right-handed hitters over his five-season career. Only one of them — to Trea Turner in 2020 — had ever been hit out of the park before Wednesday night. Only four others had even been hit for extra-bases. These things Guerrero does, they aren’t normal.
“When he’s got that swing going, it’s just…” began Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo, before trailing off. “He’s just better than everyone else. It doesn’t matter who’s on the mound, what pitches are thrown. He put those swings on really good pitches.”
Wait — back to Guerrero at his locker. He stopped watching sometime around Cole’s cap tip, returning his gaze to his phone and whoever you text when you’re the best hitter alive and you just spent your night setting the baseball world on fire.
Above him, the highlights came to an end. A box score read Blue Jays 6, Yankees 4. Guerrero’s line was highlighted: 4-for-4 with three homers, a double, three runs, four RBIs. And then a clip from Yankees manager Aaron Boone’s postgame presser quickly replaced it on the screen.
“Just a great hitter,” Boone said. “It was just otherworldly hitting.”
There’s no arguing with that. What Guerrero did in the Bronx on Wednesday was astonishing, riveting, all consuming. It didn’t matter who you were cheering for, which side you were on. Didn’t matter if your answer to those questions was neither. Guerrero’s night was just unfathomably compelling theatre from one moment to the next.
The homers, the presence, the determination to keep going with a hole in his hand. The moments, the celebrations, the deliberate jogs around the bases. The final out of the night that he snared in his big first baseman’s mitt, a 108-mph Josh Donaldson liner that seemed magnetized to him only a moment after Montoyo and Blue Jays infield coach Luis Rivera had called from the bench for Guerrero to reposition himself a little to his right.
What a night; what a player; what incredible scenes. And yet, you wouldn’t have known what had just happened seeing him shirtless in front of his locker about an hour after he made that final out, right ring finger taped tight, amber-tipped dreadlocks spilling from the back of his head, scrolling stoically through his phone.
The best hitter on the planet, a singular, innate talent, having a quiet moment after a long day’s work. A brief instant to sit with himself, to reflect, to send a message to someone important. Before he gathers his things and goes back to his Manhattan hotel where, sometime tomorrow, he’ll get up to do it all over again.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
Inter Milan winger Tajon Buchanan, recovered from a broken leg suffered in training at this summer’s Copa America, is back in Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname.
The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., underwent surgery July 3 to repair a fractured tibia in Texas.
Canada, ranked 35th in the world, plays No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg of the aggregate series is four days later at Toronto’s BMO Field.
There is also a return for veteran winger Junior Hoilett, who last played for Canada in June in a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Marsch’s debut at the Canadian helm. The 34-year-old from Brampton, now with Scotland’s Hibernian, has 15 goals in 63 senior appearances for Canada.
Midfielder Ismael Kone, recovered from an ankle injury sustained on club duty with France’s Marseille, also returns. He missed Canada’s last three matches since the fourth-place Copa America loss to Uruguay in July.
But Canada will be without centre back Derek Cornelius, who exited Marseille’s win Sunday over Nantes on a stretcher after suffering an apparent rib injury.
The Canadian men will prepare for Suriname next week at a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
“We are looking forward to getting the group together again with the mindset that there is a trophy on the line,” Marsch said in a statement. “We want to end 2024 the right way with two excellent performances against a competitive Suriname squad and continue building on our tremendous growth this past summer.”
The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the two semifinals scheduled for March 20 and the final and third-place playoff March 23, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Thirteen of the 23 players on the Canadian roster are 25 or younger, with 19-year-old defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, currently playing for England’s Crewe Alexandra on loan from Bristol City, the youngest.
Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies captains the side with Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller adding veteran support.
Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Theo Bair are joined in attack by Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi.
Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old midfielder with Croatia’s Hadjuk Split, continues in the squad after making his debut in the September friendly against Mexico.
Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.
“A good team,” Osorio said of Suriname. “These games are always tricky and they’re not easy at all … Suriname is a (former) Dutch colony and they’ll have Dutch players playing at high levels.”
“They won’t be someone we overlook at all,” added the Toronto FC captain, who has 81 Canada caps to his credit.
Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands.
Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.
The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the United States and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF Nations League.
Canada, No. 2 in the CONCACAF rankings, drew Suriname as the best-placed runner-up from League A play.
Canada lost to Jamaica in last year’s Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament and finished fifth in 2019-20.
Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.
Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Joel Waterman, Laryea and Miller and Osorio took part in a pre-camp this week in Toronto for North America-based players.
Canada Roster
Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal (MLS); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United FC (MLS).
Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel. Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Bristol City (England); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).
Midfielders: Ali Ahmed. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Inter Milan (Italy); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Junior Hoilett, Hibernian FC (Scotland); Ismael Kone, Olympique Marseille (France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).
Forwards: Theo Bair, AJ Auxerre (France); Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
